The plight of former Ethiopian naval personnel in Yemen
By Commander Assefa Seifu: March 6, 2004

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H. E. Mr. Ruud Lubbers,
U.N .High Commissioner for Refugees,
Fax:. No. 0041 227398111
Tel.no. 0041 227397377

Your Excellency,

The destitute refugees have had to shelter in Yemen for almost 13 years now, under the auspices of the UNHCR. Some have been resettled in European countries, some in the US and others in Australia and New Zealand.. The rest, languishing in Yemen, have suffered in ways difficult to describe including murder, beatings, arbitrary imprisonments and interrogation, on top of lack of education, medication and spiritual support. This has resulted in severe depression culminating in loss of total orientation, not to say madness.

ALL THIS UNDER THE NOSE OF YOUR PRESENT REPRESENTATIVE IN YEMEN

To aggravate the matter more your Representative refused to renew their IDs, claiming that Ethiopia is a D E M 0 C RAT I C country and that they should return.. The victims left no stone unturned to explain to your Rep. that he has been ill infomed and provided him reports from various Humanitarian organisations to prove their case. As we say in our country, "You can't wake up a person, who is feigning sleep Or" I have made up my mind! Stop confusing me with facts." Both maxims describe the sad attitude of your rep. somewhat expressively.

To our understanding, democracy will entail the following minimum requirements:-

Elections must Must fulfil at least the following criteria:

• fairness
• independence
• transparency

The descriptions of elections in Ethiopia, under Melles, include "combining the machinations of the imperial era and the military junta and adding quite a bit more of their own." This by a Humanitarian Agency. The report of one of the donor countries, a great supporter of the regime, was/is sarcastic. It merely said The elections were carried out efficiently. i.e.' None of the accepted Criteria was met.' But this is nothing compared to what is actually going on, on the ground.

• Leaders of opposition were imprisoned, their offices both main and branches ransacked, closed and their supporters tortured and their properties confiscated.
• No access to government media & press was ever allowed
• On top of that the votes cast for the opposition were merely added to those of the regime.

While the above are mere samples of atrocities, their preparation for the next one in terms of the Regime's press and media is nothing less than alarming. The lastthree years were spent in analysing the works of these institutions. They are now going to run a seminar for all of them to inculcate in them that hence they will all operate under one editorial staff ( all radio, TV and newspapers) will all have the samevision etc. and they will all report, speak and write everything in the praise of the regime and everything damning the oppositions. This is THE DEMOCRATIC ETHIOPIA THAT THE UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE IN YEMEN IS TALKING ABOUT.

Trade/Labour organisations

• the labour organisation: - that existed was replaced by the henchmen of Me lies;
• Confiscating their properties, blocking their accounts... without due process of 7 law. Many of their leaders jailed, the President in exile in -Holland and many members and the leadership of the branches in prison

Their Secretary General is in London The Free Press Journalists Association Your Excellency is no doubt aware that Melles has held the dubious position of only second to another country for the persecution of Journalists. Here are some of the crimes:

• disappearances of the free press journalists (not exclusively journalists) –
• imprisonments,
• tortures,
• arson

Arbitrary increase of cost of papers by the monopoly held Melles companies arrests without charges, beating of paper-vendors and confiscating the papers from the Free Press Journalists Association And like the Ethiopian Labour Union Federation and the Ethiopian Teachers association, The Executive Committee of the Free Press Association are now banned and replaced by non-members of the Free Press associaton.withI.exactly with the same name. This is the style of the regime, maintaining the: same names, but replacing the genuinely elected executives by their~ henchmen.

BRIEF EXAMPLES OF YOR REP.’S DEMOCRATIC REGIME

The first President of the Free Press Association is in exile in Holland. It is easy to write a book on the non-existence of democracy in Ethiopia. How your Representative in Yemen dubbed it Democratic is sad, but not difficult to understand for us. We have been exposed to the inherently and institutionally corrupt regime for almost 13 long years. We know what he, Melles, has done and tried to do with refugee communities and community organizations even in the US and Europe. What Philip of Macedonia, (father of Alexander the Great) said explains our case more aptly and succinctly: “THERE IS NO FORT/GARRISON THAT DOES NOT OPEN ITS GATE WHEN A DONKEY LADEN WITH GOLD APPROACHES”

It saddens us to say it but it is a matter of fact and life and death. How else, Your Excellency, can an individual whose raison d'etre in the Yemen tolerate, nay support, the inquisition of those under his care by those junior police that have been similarly compromised?

There is no way he can deny knowledge of the misery caused by his intransigence. No human being employed to serve the destitute can be I impervious to the plights of those under his care and create false premises , to please those in power, except for possible reasons given above.

Your Representative's attempt to take away their original IDs and replace them by new ones goes hand in hand with his new" mission " of not serving the refugees in need.

These Refugees have been demonstrating day and night since 10 Feb. They are fully resolved to stay there, come rain or shine, until they get their rights respected. According to the spirit and law of the creation of the UNHCR As of 27 Jan. this year the rubber stamping, so called Parliament, has legislated giving sweeping powers to the police to arrest anyone they" suspect "OF BEING A HOOLIGAN." The Oxford Dictionary defines it as'' a young person who is violent and noisy in publicplaces. ..." This is shrouding a DITATORIAL action under the guise of the law. It is not difficult to see why this came now a year before the so called elections.

WOULD YOUR REPRESENTATIVE LIKE TO LIVE UNDER SUCH LAW? Do unto others as you would others do unto you!

YOUR EXCELENCY, In the name of HUMANITY AND HUMAN DECENCY, we respectfully request that:-